


Sparklers

by Galexyi



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Childhood Friends, Light Angst, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:15:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27177080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Galexyi/pseuds/Galexyi
Summary: It was so easy but it was also so difficult. There were just so many things Changbin wanted to tell Hyunjin but couldn't bring himself to say.
Relationships: Hwang Hyunjin/Seo Changbin
Comments: 4
Kudos: 42





	Sparklers

"Idiot," Seo Changbin laughed as he watched his best friend cradle his hand to his chest.

Hwang Hyunjin pouted in response. "That really hurts," he whined.

"You're just being dramatic," Changbin rolled his eyes. He picked up the lighter from the ground and easily lit the candle. "See?"

Hyunjin stuck out his tongue at the other. "Stop being mean to me and get the sparklers already."

"We would have already lit up the sparklers if someone didn't decide to drop the lighter."

"That's because I burnt my finger!"

"How did you even manage that?"

"Whatever," Hyunjin huffed. "Just get the sparklers already."

"Alright, princess." Changbin headed to the bench where they had left their bags and retrieved the plastic bag filled with boxes of sparklers that they had picked up at the mall earlier. The moment Hyunjin had laid eyes on the sparklers, his eyes had sparkled and he all but demanded Changbin to get them. Changbin ended up buying several boxes of sparklers.

Changbin can most definitely say no to Hyunjin. He just chose not to.

Changbin opened a box of sparklers and handed Hyunjin a sparkler. "Don't set yourself on fire."

"Binnie-hyung!" Hyunjin whined while Changbin merely laughed again.

Two figures crouched over the lone candle, holding the tips of their sparklers to the swaying flame.

“Why is it not lighting up? Should it be-“ Hyunjin’s impatient grousing cut off as he let out an excited squeal of surprise at the abrupt burst of sparks. “Wow! It worked!”

The sparks flickered in the breeze, cutting through the dimness of the park as Hyunjin and Changbin waved their sparklers about in glee, their delighted laughter echoing all around them.

“It’s so pretty,” Changbin commented.

“Very pretty.” Hyunjin nodded vigorously.

It took less than a minute for the sparkler to die out. The mesmerizingly bright sparkles melted away.

Hyunjin bounded past Changbin, taking out more sparklers from the box and handing some over to his friend. “Let’s light them all up.”

Changbin eyed the bunch of unlit sparklers in Hyunjin’s hands, wondering if it was a wise decision to light up so many sparklers at once.

“Come on, what are you waiting for?” Hyunjin shoved the sparklers into his hand. “Oh, wait a moment.”

Hyunjin retrieved his phone from where he had tossed it haphazardly into Changbin’s backpack earlier. With a few swipes on his phone, a soft melody started playing in the background.

Cheesy lyrics drifted through the air and the pair of friends ran through their massive supply of sparklers. Changbin had been concerned that they had bought too many boxes of sparklers earlier but realised now that he had been worried in vain.

As the pair crouched in front of the candle again, preparing to light up their last two sticks of sparklers, Hyunjin nudged Changbin. “Hyung.”

“Hm?”

“Let’s make a wish.”

“A wish?”

“People make wishes on stars all the time, don’t they? We can’t really see stars in the city but these sparklers can be our substitute for stars.”

“That sounds so silly,” Changbin laughed.

“Hyung!” Hyunjin was pouting again. The reddening of his ears was the only thing that betrayed his embarrassment. “Well, I’m going to make a wish even if you don’t want to.”

The last two sticks of sparklers were lit up and Hyunjin closed his eyes for a moment. Despite his earlier words, Changbin followed suit.

When he opened his eyes again, he was met with the sight of Hyunjin’s face right in front of his. While he had his eyes closed, Hyunjin had inched close enough that there was barely any distance between them. Hyunjin’s warm breath brushed against his skin and Changbin couldn’t bear to move.

“You said it was silly and yet you made a wish too.” Changbin’s heart was pounding in his chest and he almost didn’t dare to breathe.

Hyunjin pulled away laughing and Changbin could breathe again. However, the racing of his heart didn’t cease.

The last of the sparklers had burnt out, the shimmering sparkles fading away.

“It was so pretty,” Hyunjin sighed softly. A sense of nostalgia lingered and Changbin was starting to regret not getting more sparklers.

Perhaps if he had gotten more sparklers, he would have been able to see the reflection of sparkles in Hyunjin’s beautiful eyes for a longer period of time.

The pair went to sit on the bench and Hyunjin pressed close to Changbin. His head rested in the crook of Changbin’s neck, arms wrapped around Changbin’s torso. Changbin’s own hand was curled around Hyunjin’s waist.

“What wish did you make, Jinnie?”

“I’m not telling you. After all, you said it was silly.”

“Should I tell you my wish then?”

Hyunjin reached out to press a finger against Changbin’s lips. “You shouldn’t say it. Don’t you know that wishes won’t come true if you say them out loud?”

“…I won’t say it then.”

If Hyunjin had asked, Changbin would have said it then. He would have let his confession spill out, would have let the unbearable and overwhelming emotions inside him burst free. But Hyunjin didn’t want him to say it and so Changbin kept it all inside.

“Weren’t the sparklers really pretty?”

“That’s all you’ve been saying over and over again since just now.”

“That’s because the sparklers were really pretty.”

“Mm-hm.”

“You didn’t think the sparklers were pretty, hyung?”

“They were pretty.” But it didn’t really matter since even the brightest sparklers couldn’t hold a comparison to Hyunjin. While Hyunjin had been captivated by the sparklers, Changbin had been captivated by him.

“I think hyung is prettier.” Changbin’s heart had barely calmed down and yet Hyunjin was assaulting it again. “Binnie-hyung?”

“Hm?”

“Thank you for today.”

Changbin reached out to stroke the other’s hair, running his fingers through strands of silky hair. “You’re welcomed.”

The silence that hung between them was thick and heavy. The unsaid words weighed heavily on the tip of Changbin’s tongue but like every other time, they never left his mouth. Instead, it was Hyunjin who broke the silence.

“Hyung?”

“Hm?”

“Let’s go and see real stars one day. I want to wish upon a real star.”

“Even if you don’t wish on a real star, I’m sure your wish will still come true.”

“…what if it doesn’t?”

“Hwang Hyunjin, there’s nothing you can’t achieve so long as you set your mind to it.”

Hyunjin mumbled something that Changbin didn’t manage to catch. “What was that, Jinnie?”

The younger shook his head and his hair tickled at Changbin’s neck. “It’s nothing.”

“…okay.” Knowing how stubborn his best friend can get, Changbin knew it was pointless to continue pushing for an answer if Hyunjin wasn’t ready to share.

Hyunjin could never remain silent for long. It was as though he felt the need to fill the void with words whenever silence descended between them. It was a trait that Changbin had adored about him. Hyunjin always spoke for him even when Changbin couldn’t find the words to speak. “Let’s go see stars in Paris.”

“Are there even stars in Paris?”

“I don’t know.”

“Idiot,” Changbin sighed. “Why Paris then?”

“Because I want to go to Paris one day.”

Changbin smiled at Hyunjin’s simple and innocent reasoning. “Okay. We can gather everyone and go on a trip to Paris together one day.”

“No,” Hyunjin shook his head vigorously.

“No?”

“It should be just the two of us.”

“Only the two of us?”

“I want to see the stars with only my favourite hyung.”

Changbin’s mind was reeling from those words, his head rapidly spinning as he tried not to read too much into Hyunjin’s words. The younger probably didn’t mean anything. He didn’t mean favourite the same way that Changbin meant whenever Changbin told Hyunjin that he was his favourite person.

“O… Okay…” Changbin managed to breathe out.

Hyunjin pouted a little, seemingly displeased by Changbin’s reaction. The hand draped around the front of Changbin’s torso grabbed at Changbin’s hand, pressing their palms together and intertwining their fingers tightly.

It wasn’t out of the ordinary for them to hold hands. They first held hands when they were both only toddlers and Hyunjin would grab onto Changbin’s hand to pull the older behind him everywhere he went. Wherever Hyunjin went, he brought Changbin with him. Wherever Hyunjin went, Changbin would follow.

It was always Changbin and Hyunjin.

Even when they grew up and their circle of friends expanded, that fact never changed. Nobody would even express the least bit of surprise to see Hyunjin casually slipping his hand into Changbin’s. Nobody would blink twice when they see Changbin tugging the younger to sit on his lap. They would just laugh along whenever Changbin tried to teasingly kiss Hyunjin on the lips. It was Changbin and Hyunjin, they would say, as though it explained everything.

It did explain everything.

Changbin lightly squeezed Hyunjin’s hands and the smile returned to Hyunjin’s lips. Hyunjin pressed even closer to him.

“Hmm… maybe hyung should tell me about his wish after all.”

“Who was the one who said that wishes won’t come true if you say them out loud?” Whatever courage the magical moment with the sparklers had filled him with had sapped away, leaving behind nothing but apprehension. Mentally, Changbin berated himself for being a coward.

He caressed the soft skin on the back of Hyunjin’s hand with his thumb and watched as his best friend bit down on his lips in disappointment. He let go of Hyunjin’s hand in favour of feeling those plump lips of his dreams beneath his touch.

It would be so easy to lean in and press his own chapped lips to them and let his actions speak where his words could not.

But Changbin didn’t. The fear of shattering everything, of ruining their friendship persisted in his mind. He would rather suppress his feelings than risk spoiling things between them.

He couldn’t bear the thought of living in a world without Hyunjin.

“Hyung?” Hyunjin was staring at him with a strange look. Lost in his own thoughts, Changbin’s touch lingered far too long on Hyunjin’s lips.

Changbin pulled away with a heavy heart and a small smile, shaking his head slightly. Hyunjin’s lips parted briefly before pressing together again, seemingly having decided against saying whatever was on his mind.

At the wee hours of the morning, the park was completely deserted. The groups of children playing and the few stray joggers had already left for home. Only the crickets continued chirping their song into the darkness.

“We should go home soon, Jinnie.”

“Just a little while more, hyung.”

The lone street lamp in the park illuminated the figures of two people, pressed so closely against each other that it was difficult to tell where one ended and the other began. Moths flitted about the lamp, drawn to the brightest thing in their vicinity and causing the light to flicker uneasily.

“I hope we can do this again someday, hyung.”

“I hope so too, Jinnie.”

And perhaps next time, the burst of sparkles can be accompanied by a burst of courage that would allow him to spill his true feelings to the love of his life.

**Author's Note:**

> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/galexyii)


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